Mermaid
by Gwen Gamgee
Summary: The Titans recieve a new member, one that some of them aren't entirely sure they want.
1. A new Titan

Mermaid

A Teen Titians Fan Fiction

Episode 1 of the mermaid chronicles.

The fighting was intense. The Titians had been going at this thing for at least twenty minutes by now and getting nowhere. "Its skin is too tough!" Robin shouted as the creature tossed him to one side. He had been trying to blow it up.

"It's a giant blue spider," commented Beast Boy as he struggled to get out of one of its front pinchers, "it wares its skeleton on the outside." He turned into a snake and dropped to the ground. He shifted back into Beast Boy and faced the creature. "Of coarse his skin is going to be tough, it's his insides that are soft."

"This thing's got to have a weak spot," Cyborg growled as he blasted it a couple more times, "everything's got a weak spot."

"Yes," agreed Star Fire as she floated next to him, "but where?"

"Would you guys mind stop talking about it and do something?" asked Raven. "I'm tired of throwing busses at it," she finished as she hurled one at it.

"This would be easier with the other Titan's here," stated Starfire.

"They had their own problems to deal with," grumbled Cyborg.

"There!" pointed Robin, "The stomach! Cyborg, you and Star Fire go for the target area; the rest of us will distract it. Go!"

With that Cyborg and Star Fire ran under the thing and directed their fire strait up while Raven continued to throw cars and street lamps at it, Beast Boy ran in circles around it making various noises and Robin threw bombs at it. The creature turned in circles confused and in pain when it stopped. It started to turn red and steam. "Titians! Run for cover!" shouted Robin as everyone except Cyborg hid behind the nearest car or sign. Cyborg stood there sending his continual blast into the creature's belly…

It blew up.

Mobs of blue slime went everywhere, splattering the nearby buildings. "Gross," commented Beast Boy with a look of disgust as he came up from behind the street sign.

"What's the matter?" asked Raven as she came over, "I thought you liked gross."

"You kidding? This is cool! It looks toxic."

"It looks like a flerb yasnozle," agreed Star Fire as she walked over.

"Well baby blue's never been my favorite color," said Raven in her usual dreary yet sarcastic tones.

"Hey guys," called Cyborg as he walked over, "how do you like my art work?"

"It could use some work," replied Raven looking at the buildings.

"And the paint could be of a different color." commented Star Fire.

"Guys," called Robin from the other side of the street, "we have a slight problem." He finished just as the rest of the group reached him. He looked down. There, on the sidewalk was a girl about fifteen, maybe sixteen, with long dark hair, completely embellished in one big glob of blue slime and unconscious.

"In case you guys are wondering," said Beast Boy, "It wasn't me."

Play theme song

Ten minutes earlier… The streets of New York are crowded as usual; we focus in on one girl walking down the street with her mother. The girl is coughing slightly and does not appear to be able to stand up strait; her mother looks worried. "I still think we should have brought the fold up wheel chair, just in case."

"Mother," the girl replies, swinging her long hair behind her, "I am not so weak that I can't walk one block from the doctor's office to the restaurant." She coughs several times very hard. "The wheel chair is only if I get really tired." She finishes, hacking some more.

"I know dear," her mother says, "It's just I don't think this air is good for you."

"You're the one who said we should come here," the girl pointed out, "And if you could call me Gwen in public please. You know I don't like it when you call me 'Dear', it sounds like your babying me. Besides," she finished, "I like the smell of the city. It smells of culture." She inhaled deeply and hacked some more.

After a brief silence her mother spoke up "When we get to the restaurant I want you to order a full meal."

"Fine, but that doesn't mean I'm going to eat it all," the girl retorted.

"I'm just asking you to eat what you can. You've gotten so skinny in the last year…" her mother finished sounding worried again.

"Ok!" Gwen replies, starting to get mad. At this point you see her full figure and relies that she is gaunt and looks like someone who has lost a lot of weight in a short amount of time…

Suddenly screams echo. Gwen's mother grabs her daughter's hand. "Panicked crowds are a dangerous thing, we need to run to that street corner and turn so we're out of the way," she says, "Run!!" As they run, Gwen starts to lag behind.

"MOM!!!!" she yells as the crowd runs her over and drags her mother off. A couple seconds later she struggles to her feet. As she rasps for breath she turns around and sees why there were screaming crowds running down the road. Right there, in the middle of the street, is a three story tall blue spider, right now turning in circles. Quickly, Gwen runs inside the store behind her and comes out with a baseball bat, ready to defend herself if necessary. The spider is now facing the other way, red and steaming. Gwen thinks she might see someone under the spider but just as she starts to take a closer look, something hits her at full force, knocking her into the pole behind her. She slumps to the ground. As she blacks out, she could swear the world had turned blue.

When Gwen woke up, all she could see was a fuzzy green blob in front of her face. Her eyes hadn't quite focused yet. "I think she's waking up," said the green blob. As her eyes focused, she saw a green monkey with pointy ears and fangs.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"Yep, she's awake," reported Beast Boy, a huge smile on his face as he stood up. The Titians stood in a semicircle around the table they had laid Gwen. Although she doesn't know it yet, Gwen now has blue skin.

"Oh Beast Boy, you frightened her!" retorted Star Fire. "Do not be frightened," she told Gwen, "he looks vicious but is really quite harmless."

"Yeah, harmless." Beast Boy agreed as he stood on the edge of the table, making a silly face. At this point he lost his balance and fell off the table. Gwen sat up giggling, and then laughing. She hadn't laughed in a long time.

"Wait," she said in mid-laugh, "if you're Beast Boy then you guys are…" She looked around as the Titians gave her puzzled looks. "The Teen Titians," she finished quietly like she didn't believe it.

"Yeah…" said Robin like he was wondering what the point was, "That's us."

"I just didn't really expect meet you…um, what am I doing here?" she asked in a quiet voice like she was suddenly shy.

"Well we were fighting a giant blue spider…" started Beast Boy.

"When we found you unconscious on the ground," finished Cyborg.

"And we didn't see anyone looking for you…" added Star Fire.

"So we didn't know what to do with you sin…" said Raven

"SO we brought you back here until you woke up so we could help you home." Robin cut Raven off since he really didn't think it was a good idea to tell Gwen that they'd found her in a glob of slime. Gwen looked from Titian to Titian. You could tell she was wondering if they finished each other's sentences often.

"Well, I was with my Mom but the screaming crowds knocked me over and I lost her so I have no idea where she is. I've only been in the city a couple days, I came here to see a doctor about my condition and…" She stopped, realizing that she hadn't meant to tell them she was sick. She didn't want them to pity her.

"What's the matter with you?" asked Beast Boy. He sounded generally concerned. Gwen decided to tell him.

"I'm, well, I've been sick for a long time."

"Well if you're sick," Robin said, "maybe you should lie down."

"No it's ok," she said, already able to tell she was going to be babied, "I not tired." Then she realized something. "That's odd…" The Titians looked at her, waiting for an explanation. "I'm always tired. Maybe getting knocked out did me some good." The Titians looked at her in slight disbelief. She sighed. "Wait…" She took another breath, deeper this time. "I can breath?" she almost whispered. She took another breath. "I can breath!!!!!!!" she shouted, jumping off the table. "You don't understand," she explained to the bewildered group, "I haven't been able to breathe properly in over a year now! I feel so happy I could do cartwheels!" She preceded cartwheel around the table as the others watched. "That was so cool!" she said as she stopped. The Titians looked even more puzzled, "I've never done a cartwheel in my life!" she explained, "I'm a bookworm, I don't do sports!" She then continued to cartwheel around the table some more.

"So," said Beast Boy, trying to get the matter straitened out, "You were sick and now you're not?"

"I guess so," Gwen said stopping, "hmmm…"

"I don't know about anyone else," confessed Cyborg, "but I'm confused."

"I am confused as well," said Star Fire.

"So am I." Gwen said as she sat down, putting her head in her hands. Then she got a good look at her hands. "Why am I blue?" she asked, noticing for the first time.

"You weren't blue to begin with?" asked Raven.

"No…"

"Oh dear…" Star Fire let out, looking concerned. Gwen ran over to a full-length mirror that was just down the hall.

"I'm completely blue!" she gasped, "What happened? Is this permanent?"

"We found you covered in slime from the spider, and by the time we got most of it off you were already blue," Robin told her.

"From what we've been able to tell it won't come off," Cyborg explained.

"At least you aren't _baby_ blue." Raven said in her usually monotonous voice.

"Are you upset?" asked Star Fire.

"I don't know yet," Gwen confessed, bewildered, "is there anything else wrong with me?" Gwen started to check herself in the mirror. "My eyes are the same color. So is my hair, but it seems to have more body to it, probably the slime. Wait a minute…" She patted her stomach area. "My skin flabs are gone."

"What are skin flabs?" asked Star Fire.

"Well," Gwen was trying to explain without embarrassing herself, these people were finding way too much about her, "I wasn't the skinniest person in the world before I got sick, so when I started losing weight, there was left over skin… but now it's gone!" she finished looking down. "This is so weird." She went back to the table, slumped down and put her head in her hands again. The Titians didn't know what to say. Then Cyborg spoke,

"We need to see if she has powers," he suggested turning to Robin.

"What?" asked Gwen looking up, thoroughly confused, "Why would I have powers?"

"The slime changed your genetic makeup, we don't know what else it did to you," explained Raven.

"If you don't have powers you might have problems," Robin pointed out.

"It's not like you can just go home," added Cyborg.

"What? Why not?!" asked Gwen. She was starting to panic.

"You're blue," Beast Boy explained, putting his hand on hers, "one reporter sees you and mad scientists start doing crazy experiments on you. And they don't care about what you're like when they're done with you either," he finished sounding very concerned. Gwen was about to ask how he knew this but then she looked at him and it dawned on her, 'He's green, he's been in the same spot I am all his life.' At this she relaxed a little. At least someone understood how hard this was for her.

"But," she asked, "what about my family? My Mom is out there looking for me, and I have a father and two little sisters at home."

"Oh." Beast boy looked down and the rest of the Titians didn't look too happy either.

"What's the matter?"

"Families are not good things for a super hero," Robin explained, "Villains like to use them for hostages and blackmail."

"They are bad people who do vile things," added Star fire.

"What am I supposed to do?" asked Gwen. Things were happening way too fast.

"Cyborg," said Robin taking charge, "send a message to the police that if a woman comes in looking for her daughter that we have her and she is safe."

"I'll be right back." Cyborg said as he left the room.

"Now what?" asked Raven.

"Now we see if she has powers," Robin told her. Raven turned to Gwen.

"Close your eyes and open your mind," she told her, "let your mind wander." Gwen looked at Beast Boy. He gave her an encouraging smile. Gwen closed her eyes.

There was white, and then she heard a seagull. It took her to the beach. She waded into the water. It felt so good. She swam, first on top of the water. She swam with the dolphins but she couldn't keep up, so she swam like they did, in one fluid movement. Then she dove down deep with them, and played in the sun shadows.

While Gwen was having this daydream Robin, Star Fire, Raven and Beast Boy were watching. At first nothing happened but then they watched as her legs slowly molded into one and her feet flattened and spread. She had a tail. Then the skin between her fingers spread until she had webbed hands.

Gwen dove deeper and realized she was going to run out of air. She felt something on the sides of her neck, and then she couldn't breath…

In the real world her new friends watched as she grew gills and then gasped for breath. "Snap out of it!" yelled Beast Boy. Gwen opened her eyes, losing focus and going back to normal.

"What happened?" she asked as she caught her breath.

"You turned into a fish," Raven stated.

"She did not!" yelled Beast Boy in defile, "I know fish! She turned into a mermaid! Which is great because that means I'll finally have someone to swim with," he finished looking at Gwen with stars in his eyes. She giggled.

"But Beast Boy," she said, "I'm not even sure I'm staying yet." Robin and Beast Boy started talking at once.

"But you got to!" started Beast Boy.

"At least see how you do on a mission," Robin advised.

"Ok," Gwen agreed, "If it works out with my family I might stay, I mean, were else would I go?"

"Yes!" yelled Beast Boy, leaping up into the air. "I mean cool." He amended, blushing bright red. Gwen laughed again. Then Cyborg came back.

"They said they'd call when she came in," he said, referring to the Police, "So, what's happened so far?"

"She turned into a fish." Raven stated once more.

"She did not!" screamed Beast Boy raising his arm with his finger pointed, "For the last time! She turned into a…"

"Mermaid, we know." said Robin, interrupting. Beast Boy lowered his arm, making a long a face as he did so. Gwen burst out laughing again.

"Beast Boy," she said between laughs, "you're so (stifled laugh) funny!"

"I know." he said, putting on funny glasses and raising his eyebrows, causing Gwen to be thrown into more fits of laughter.

"So what else can she do?" asked Cyborg.

"We don't know yet, Beast Boy's too funny." Robin sounded exasperated.

"I'm sorry," said Gwen, gasping for breath, "I'll stop." She got control of her breathing. "So what do you want me to do now?"

"We want you to do the same thing again only this time think of something else," Raven told her.

Gwen closed her eyes and sat there on the table cross-legged. For a couple seconds nothing happened then, "Beast Boy don't you dare." Gwen said, opening her eyes half a second to stare down Beast Boy then closing them again.

"What was Beast Boy doing?" asked Robin. Gwen opened her eyes.

"He just said he was going to tickle me." Gwen told them, sounding exasperated.

"Did I say that out loud?" asked Beast Boy, genuinely curios.

"No, you didn't…" said Robin solemnly.

"What does that mean?" asked Star Fire.

"I think…she can read minds," Robin answered.

"Oh goody." commented Raven.

"I don't see what's so bad about this," Cyborg interjected.

"Well the last time someone entered my mind it wasn't a joy ride," Raven stated. Cyborg looked the other way and started to whistle.

"I will try not to read any of your minds unless it was necessary." Gwen told them.

"That doesn't matter right now," stated Robin, "Let's see what else you can do." Music roles and you start to see various attempts.

First Gwen is lifting off the table. Her eyes and hands glow red. The glow starts to flicker, then dies as she falls to the ground. You see her get up from behind the table, rubbing her head. Scene changes.

Now you see her sending a fireball at a piece of cloth. You see Beast Boy, who is standing right next to her, as his hair spontaneously catches on fire. Gwen turns to face him and sends a long spurt of water at him, soaking him and Raven, who was standing near him. Gwen laughs. Scene changes.

Gwen is concentrating hard. You see her as she changes into a mouse, then pop! She's a hippo, then pop! She's an ostrich, then pop! She's back to her. She opens one eye and grins, as if to try to apologize. Scene changes.

Gwen is grimacing; she is concentrating so hard. In front of her a cup rattles, lifts about two centimeters then falls. Gwen gives up and relaxes. Cyborg all of a sudden is lifted off the ground and hurls into a wall off scene. Gwen winces and shrugs hopefully as the other Titians look at her. Scene changes once more. Music stops.

Gwen rested on the couch while the Titians looked at her. "Look," she said, "if you don't want me to stay any more I understand."

"Of coarse we want you to stay!" exclaimed Beast Boy, "Right guys?"

"You'll need a lot of training," Robin told her, "but you posses every power we've been able to think of. I think you'll be a great addition to our team, but we should probably see how you do on a mission to see just how much training you'll need."

"So you really want me to join your team?" she asks, not sure quite sure she's hearing them right.

"Yes we want you to join our team!" says Beast Boy, "How else would we get you to stay?"

"Not to mention if we didn't let you Beast Boy would whine for a month," commented Raven. The rest of the Titians glared at her. "Just kidding," The phone rings.

"I'll get it," said Cyborg as he walked out.

"Now that you are staying," said Star Fire, zooming right into Gwen's face, "will you be my friend, what's your favorite color, and what is your name?"

"Um...sure, purple and…" Gwen started.

"Wait!" yelled Beast Boy. They all looked at him. "Do we want to know her name?"

"Why ever not?" asked Star Fire.

"I get it," Raven finished for him, "If we use her name all the time or even slip once and our enemies could research her past, or worse. Like what Slade did to… well, you get the picture."

"We definitely have to think of a super hero name for you," Robin said, slightly fast to cover up Raven's mistake. At this point Cyborg came back.

"That was the police station," he said looking at Gwen, "Your Mom's going to be here in a couple hours." Gwen looked down at her shoes.

"So what you goin'a tell your Mom?" asked Beast Boy, seeing that Gwen was upset.

"What I have to tell her." she said, composing herself, "Don't worry, I know what I'm going to say. So," she said, looking at the other Titians, "anyone have any name ideas?"

"I do!" said Beast Boy, "How bout Beast Girl!" They stared at him. "Um, no. OK, how about Phoenix? No? Flying Super Wonder? No, um…"

"Beast Boy…" Gwen was trying to give her idea.

"Wait," he said, "How about Ms. Mysterious, no, Ms. Disguise, no…"

"Shut up and let mermaid talk," Raven butted in.

"Thank you," Gwen started, "I like… wait, what did you call me?"

"Mermaid," answered Beast Boy, "You know, it fits. I like that name."

"I was being sarcastic," said Raven.

"I like it too," Gwen agreed.

"I think it is marvelous!" elated Star Fire.

"Well I guess that's settled then." Robin announced, "Mermaid, welcome to the Teen Titians. I'd give you a communicator but the extra one can't be fixed till tomorrow."

"What happened to it?" Gwen, or Mermaid as it were, asked. "BB broke it," Cyborg told her with glee, "we were playing a good game of stank ball when…" The doorbell rang. "I'll get it." He said this even more gleefully as it gave him the chance to leave the room while Beast Boy steamed. When he came back he had something behind his back.

"Do you want to hear the good news or the bad news first?" he asked.

"I'd go with good news," Robin decided for the group.

"The good news is…" he pause bring out a pizza box from behind his back, "Pizza's here!"

"Yes! I'm starving!" exclaimed Mermaid.

"I second that." Beast Boy agreed, digging in.

"Me too." Star Fire echoed as she selected a piece.

"I hate to break up the party," Raven said, "but what's the bad news?"

"Yeah what's the bad news?" Mermaid asked with half a piece of pizza in her mouth.

"The bad news is that your Mom is only about a block away,"

Mermaid spat out her pizza. "What?" she exclaimed, "I thought you said she wouldn't be here for a couple of hours!"

"I guess the police underestimated your mom."

"What are you going to tell her?" Beast Boy asked, concerned.

"Don't worry," Mermaid told him, "I know what I'm going to say." She didn't say anything else on that subject. "Now when she gets here I want to talk to her alone," Mermaid said addressing the group, "afterwards I'll introduce you guys."

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Robin asked, "We could at least be with you in the room for moral support."

"That's kind of you, but I need to do this alone. If you were there Mom would freak and convince herself that I was a victim of peer pressure or something." They gave her a puzzled look.

"Peer pressure?" Cyborg asked, "We didn't even know you until today."

"Look, Mom is weird, ok? She's…" –ding, dong- the door bell rang. "Look," she said, "just trust me! Go into the Gym while I answer the door. _Please?_"

"If that's what you want," Robin said.

"But if you need us, we're right in here," said Beast Boy, a little sad.

"Don't worry," Mermaid assured him, "I'm staying. Even if…" –ding, dong- "I gotta go. Shue!" she said, pushing him down the hall before going to the door.

She looked out the peephole to make sure it was her mom. It was. She stood next to the door and opened it in, so it hid her. "Hello?" her mother asked stepping inside.

"Mother, don't turn around." Mermaid cautioned.

"Gwen?"

"Yes, I'm here, but I'm a little, different…" Mermaid explained,

"I don't care as long as you're ok! Just let me see you," her mother pleaded.

"Alright, but don't say I didn't warn you…" She came out from behind the door, closing it as she did so. "Turn around." Her mother did so and took a step back before she realized that it was Gwen.

"Oh, Gwen," she began, "are you ok?"

"I'm better than ok, it's gone! I'm not sick any more! My stupid skin flabs are gone too. And look," she said, holding a fire ball in her hand, "I have super powers."

"Oh, Gwen," her mother said again, pulling her into a hug, "I'm so happy, but," she said coming out of the hug, "will the blue ever come off?"

"No. Mom, I think we ought to sit on the couch for a second," They sat down on the couch facing each other.

"Mom," she started, "I can't go home with you,"

"Why not?!" her mother asked in alarm.

"Just listen, don't interrupt. I'm different now," she said "and one reporter gets a picture of me and scientists haul me away,"

"Gwen, people are more understanding of differences now and…"

"Mom," Mermaid cut in, "you were the one who told me to be wary of bias information."

"I know, but we could keep you hidden or…"

"Mom, I don't want a life in a prison, scared of who I am and what I can do. The Titians have offered me a home here where I can learn how to use my abilities for a greater good. It's my best chance I've got and you know it!"

"You could use your powers up where we live, couldn't you?" her mother pleaded.

"I can't control my powers yet. I'd do more damage than good. Here I can train."

"This is all so fast…" her mother thought for some comeback, "sigh… I'm beaten, aren't I?"

"_Yes,_" Gwen replied, relieved her mother was coming around so quickly.

"I just didn't think you would be leaving me so soon," her mother started bleary eyed.

"It's ok… I can take care of myself, and it's not like I'll be alone, I'll be with the Titians."

"It's just so hard to see you all grown up," her mother told her smiling through her tears.

"There's something else you should know…" Her mother looked at her. "Being a superhero could put you and the rest of the family in danger, so…" she paused to get a hold of her self, "you're going to have to tell everyone but Dad that I'm… dead."

"_But,_"

"If the bad guys knew you were my family they might take you hostage or worse. I can't risk that."

"I just wish you would think it over first,"

"I have, all day," Mermaid told her.

"But this means I'll never get to see you again."

"I didn't say that. It would just mean that you would have to visit me in secret and rarely," she explained.

"It just won't be the same," Her mother was on the verge of tears again.

"It's ok Mom, you just have to let go of me earlier than you expected. And like I said before, it's not like I'll be lonely. Speaking of which," Mermaid said, seeing away out of the moment, "Why don't you meet my new friends?"

"Ok," her mother agreed, drying her tears.

"They're right down this hall," Mermaid said as she steered her mother to the Gym. As they came in the Titians were shoving pizza in their faces. "Um, guys," Mermaid said as the group turned around. Beast Boy swallowed a large bite. "This is my mom."

"It's nice to meet you, Mermaid's going to make a great addition to our team."

"That's Robin," Mermaid introduced.

"Mermaid?" her mom asked.

"It's her new name; for protection."

"Why do you need so much protection?" her mother asked in alarm.

"Don't worry M'am," Cyborg told her, "it's more for your protection than hers."

"Oh I see…"

"That's Cyborg," Mermaid told her, starting to worry.

"I am so glad that we will all be being friends."

"That's Star Fire," Mermaid added,

"Yeah it's really great."

"And that's Raven."

"Hi," said Beast Boy, stepping forward timidly, "I'm Beast Boy. You will be letting Mermaid stay; won't you?"

"Well," her mother said, "she seems to think it's the only way to deal with the current situation but I don't know. I mean she's only 15 and to live here with no adults…"

"But you gotta let her stay!" Beast Boy interrupted, "If you make her live anywhere else she'll be considered a freak! Trust me, I know…" he added.

"If it helps at all," Cyborg put in, "I'm technically college age."

"That's not what I consider adult but…"

"You don't have to worry about her here M'am," Robin cut in, "we look out for each other, we're a team. There's no place she could be safer."

"It's just that…"

"Mom…" started Mermaid… Then the alarm cut her off.

"Trouble;" stated Robin as he looked at his communicator, "Apparently that goo Cyborg sprayed all over the tourist district is taking on a life of its own." He started to leave, then turned to face Mermaid. "You coming?" he asked.

"_Now?_" Mermaid asked bewildered, "I don't know… I don't have that much of a handle on my powers yet…"

"Come on," pleaded Beast Boy, "you can use that flame thrower power, you were pretty good at that."

"You mean you don't mind if I set your head on fire again?" asked Mermaid, disbelieving.

"Oh that?" said Beast Boy as if it were nothing, "There are…" He was going to say 'worse things' but then caught sight of Mermaid's mother. "I mean, you can always hose me again," he amended.

"Come on," Cyborg motioned, facing to leave, "you can ride in the T-car, just don't burn the upholstery, or smudge it, or dirty it or…"

"SHUT UP!" Raven and Beast Boy yelled at the same time.

"Ok," Mermaid surrendered, "I'll come. I need to practice anyway," she said, looking cheerful. She started to follow Cyborg out when…

"What am I supposed to do?" demanded Mermaid's mom.

"Oh, mother," Mermaid remembered, turning back, "Um, stay here, and…" she added as she thought about it, "stay in the living room, it might give you a better exit if need be. I'll be back," she called over her shoulder as she left, leaving her mother looking thoroughly put out.

As they got to the scene of the action Robin started giving orders, "Ok Titians, we don't know what these things can do yet, so stay alert. Mermaid, just do the best you can. You'll be mostly extra support for this mission. Try not to use powers if you're not sure they'll work, just stick to flame throwing. Anyone have any questions?" he asked.

"I have a question," mentioned Beast Boy, waving his hand in the air to get attention, "You said 'these things.' What things? I thought we were dealing with blue goo."

"We are. But the alert said it had formed into… well, better just come look," Robin finished, motioning for the rest of the team to follow him over the crest of the hill. The Titans looked over a scene of chaos. People were screaming and running from what looked like four foot tall blue goopy ghosts with razor sharp teeth and laser red eyes. There looked to be at least two dozen if not more. "It's an army of goo creatures," said Star fire in awe.

"If that's an army it's not a very good one," commented Raven as one creature ran blindly into a wall, "They just run every which way with no direction or pattern."

"We have to deal with those?" asked Beast Boy incredulously, "They're not even as tall as I am!"

"But they can do that," interjected Mermaid. She pointed as another creature that ran into a wall, exploded and pulled its self back together.

"We've dealt with stuff like that too, it's no big," replied Beast Boy, sounding slightly less sure of himself.

"You know what, I think they may be slightly taller than you BB," commented Cyborg.

"The point is that they out number us and we have no idea what they can do. Just use caution," Robin warned, "Titans… GO!"

As she ran down the hill, Mermaid threw one fire ball as a test run. It hit and melted one glob beautifully. Encouraged by the fact that no one's hair had caught on fire, she continued to through fireball after fireball with much vigor, melting ten blobs before she even got to the bottom of the hill.

Cyborg wasn't having much trouble either. At first he used his mini missles which did not do much damage, but when he switched to his blaster he found if he aimed right he could melt more than one at a time and was having quite a lot of fun doing it.

Starfire was also handling them pretty well but that's as far as it went. The other Titians couldn't harm the creatures at all. Even T-rex Beast boy could only slam them against a wall and watch them reform again.

"Why aren't you having any trouble?" he asked Cyborg.

"You know, I'm not sure," responded Cyborg after blasting another one, "They don't seem to be reforming as fast after I hit them."

"Wonderful," commented Raven, "I can't touch them. What are you doing to them?"

"I said, I don't know!" shouted Cyborg, "I'm not the only one taking them down. It's not even working that well, they still reform. Talk to Star or Mermaid, I'm kinda busy."

"Like they're not."

Actually Mermaid was busy, but not with the goo creatures. Or at least, not entirely.

"Mom! What are you doing here?! Get down!" Mermaid screeched as she blasted the creature behind her mother.

"I couldn't stay in that tower while you out here doing who knows what, I was worried."

"Well, now you can see I'm quite fine, so please go back to the tower."

"No. I am your mother, I have a right to watch."

Mermaid sighed. "Well, fine, but you're kind of in the wa- Mom look out!" she screeched once more as she pushed her mother out of the way of one of Raven's busses, which was directed at a blob.

"See what I mean? Here," she said as she grabbed her mother and flew her to the top of a building, "Watch from here."

"I didn't know you could fly."

"Niether did I, now stay here!" Mermaid flew off.

"It's not like I have much choice in the matter!" her mother called after her.

As she flew over the street she could see only she, Starfire and Cyborg were having any effect.

"Thanks," said Robin after she got a creature coming up behind him. "Any thoughts on why your abilities are working while Raven's and Beast Boy's aren't?"

"I think you have to melt them. Maybe if we could scoop them up in some container before they reform…"

"Good plan. Raven!" he called.

"Yeah?"

"We need a container large enough to hold all this stuff. Can you find something?"

"Will the water tower work?"

"Yes. Get it ready. Beast Boy! I need you to somehow help me scoop this stuff into the water tower as it melts. You got that?"

"Sure."

"Cyborg, Star, just keep melting. We'll take care of the rest. Titans,go!"

The Titans worked with speed and efficiency. Mermaid helped where she could, melting and lifting stuff to the water tower. It was over in ten minutes.

"That wasn't so hard," commented Robin when they resealed the tower, "Good thinking Mermaid." Suddenly there was a roar, and the water tower shook.

"Well, it was a good plan," stated Raven as the water tower began to burst at the seams, "until now."

Out of the tower emerged a goo creature as big as the surrounding skyscrapers. It roared a mighty roar and took off towards a random building.

"Just as I suspected," muttered Raven, "Utterly brainless. It's not even attacking us."

"No," said Mermaid, "but it's attacking my mom! Hurry!" She sped after it.

"What is her mom even doing here?" asked Beast Boy as the rest of the group went after her.

"Attack now, questions later! Let's go BB!" shouted Cyborg over his shoulder.

"It's not like I can do much to it anyway," muttered Beast Boy as he took wing.

As Mermaid caught up to the creature she could hear her mother shouting. "Hang on!" she called as she hit it from behind with a fire ball. Continuing to attack it, she managed to draw it off her mother. While Mermaid held its attention, Starfire picked up Mermaid's mother and flew her to a safer location.

"Excuse me," said Starfire, "but I need to be helping the others now. Will you be alright?"

"I'll be fine," Mermaid's mother responded, breathing a little hard, "If I may ask, who drew that thing away?"

"Your daughter, of course. I must go now." Starfire flew back to the battle, leaving Mermaid's mother stunned.

It took quite a while to get it melted again and keep it that way. In the end it was an accident that did it. Frustrated, Starfire heaved a large piece of glass in the air, intent on hitting the creature over the head with it, when the sun's reflections hit the creature and melted it.

"Don't move!" Robin shouted, "Stay there, so it can't reform while we contact the lab holding the other mutated criminals."

"I will do as you say, but this object is heavy."

"I'll help," offered Mermaid. Raven joined them, (physically, using her powers blocked the sun) and the three girls hung there until the authorities arrived.

Later in the tower, Mermaid's mother confronted her.

"I didn't understand how strong you were. Even seeing you fight, I worried, but then you drew off that thing so I could get away. I see now that you've grown up much faster then I could of thought possible. We raised you well and you're ready to be on your own. You can stay." Her mother teared up and drew her into a hug.

"I love you honey."

"I love you too Mom." Her mother pulled away and smiled.

"Don't show me to the door," she said as she dried her tears, "I'll only cry more." She walked out of the room. Mermaid watched her go.

Mermaid turned around to face her new friends, who had walked in near the end.

"Are you going to be ok?" asked Beast Boy.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. So," she asked, "Am I staying?"

They all looked at Robin expectantly. He nodded. Raven frowned. No one noticed.

"Great! You can have the extra bedroom. I'll show you," Beast Boy volunteered, as he grabbed Mermaid's hand and pulled her out of the room.

"And I will help." Star Fire added as went with them.

"Don't forget me," said Cyborg, as he followed them out.

Raven looked questionly at Robin. "You don't trust her," she stated.

"I don't know anything about her."

"It's more than that."

"It's just that she's too…"

"Powerful?" questioned Raven.

"She had every ability we could think of! Everyone we know! I just keep thinking about…"

"Terra."

"Yes."

"Then why are you letting her stay? I know Beast Boy's reason, Starfire's reason and even Cyborg's reason. What's yours?"

"It's just that, since we've been back from our different corners of the world, that was the first time we fit together as _our_ team again. It's like she reminded us of how we fit without the rest of the Titan's from around the world."

"And? There's something else Robin."

"It's just, I don't think the Brotherhood of Evil is just going to go away. I know they're in hibernation but technically they're still out there, and I keep feeling like that was just our first battle. It's dangerous for any teen hero right now, even if they're not a Titan," Robin finished.

"You know, most people would call that paranoia, especially when they're frozen."

"I'm aware. They called me paranoid when I said Slade would come back."

"You were paranoid. **_But,_**" she continued cutting off any argument, "I also think you want to keep an eye on her."

"Maybe, I'm not sure yet."

"Look, I'll be suspicious and _you_ can try to protect her from the brotherhood of evil," Raven told him, "You don't need to worry more than you already do."

There was a crash and the sound of Beast Boy's laughter down the hallway. "I'll go check that out," stated Raven as she swept out of the room.

"So we have a new Titan," Robin mused to himself. "The question is, who is she?"

TBC


	2. Power

Episode 2 of the Mermaid chronicles.

Mermaid floated in midair, centering her focus on the weight at the end of the room. She concentrated harder. It started to lift off the ground.

"You guys!" yelled Beast Boy as he spotted what Mermaid was doing, "Come look! She's doing it!" Robin came running in first followed by Cyborg.

"Alright Mermaid!" Robin cheered.

"You go girl!" yelled Cyborg. Starfire and Raven came floating into the room.

"Yay Mermaid!" said Starfire.

"Go Mermaid." Raven added.

"Yeah, go Mermaid!" yelled Beast Boy.

As the Titians cheered, the weight rose higher and higher. It wasn't going where it was supposed to go, Mermaid was trying to get it to hit the target behind it, but it wouldn't go any direction but up. Mermaid concentrated harder. Her friends continued to cheer. She concentrated harder. Her forehead started to sweat. Beast Boy took notice.

"Um, guys," he said, stopping the cheering, "I don't think that thing's going where it's supposed to go."

Mermaid continued to concentrate harder and harder. The weight stopped rising and started to spin. "Um, Mermaid?" Beast Boy asked. It spun faster.

"Mermaid stop!" yelled Robin.

"Stop please!" added Starfire.

"Mermaid!" yelled Beast Boy. The weight stopped spinning and fell straight down, creating a hole in the floor and kicking up a cloud of dust as it landed. Everyone was left coughing.

"What happened?" Robin asked Mermaid as she stood up out of the dust.

"I couldn't do it. I couldn't even make the thing rise up three feet and hit the target, 'cause I'm pathetic. If you'll excuse me," she said as she pushed past the group and to the door, "I have a major headache I need to deal with, thank you." She left the room. The Titians stood there speechless.

"She sounded like Raven," commented Cyborg.

"Ouch," added Beast Boy.

Play Theme Song.

Later, Beast Boy entered Mermaid's room. "Um, Mermaid?" He looked around. You could tell she hadn't been there long; the room wasn't very personalized. In the middle of the room was a small bed with gray sheets, next to it a side table and a stack of books. On the side table were a couple pink candles and a bible. The cool thing about the room was the walls. Light spangled on the walls in patterns one would expect to see underwater. There was a huge wall length window on one wall but the curtains were closed right now. There was also a tall window spanning across one of the corners but the curtains were closed on that window too. The only light was the patterns on the walls and the candles. Mermaid was sitting in the middle of her bed, cross-legged, reading a large book.

"Is it ok if I come in?" Beast Boy asked as he stepped in the room, carrying a bouquet of flowers.

"Yeah, come in." She sounded like she had calmed down.

"What are you reading?" Beast Boy asked, peering around the edge of the book.

"Something Raven lent me," she said, closing the book and setting it down on her desk. Beast Boy took a step back and raised one eyebrow. _Nobody_ liked Raven's books.

"Oh, you brought me flowers! How sweet." She took them from him and inhaled their sent.

"Do you like sitting in the dark?" Beast Boy asked, thinking she was acting too much like Raven.

"Oh you can open a curtain if you want; I was just getting affect of the water light."

"How do you do that?" asked Beast Boy as he pulled open the curtains on the wall length window.

"The curtains for that window," she said pointing to the window in the corner, "are actually clear plastic filled with blue dyed water."

"Cool." Beast Boy said as he came across the room and sat on the edge of Mermaid's bed.

"I wanted to apologize for the way I acted this morning. I'm sorry I got all grouchy like that, I was just mad that I couldn't control my powers." Mermaid said all of this looking directly at Beast Boy. Now she looked down. "I'll be useless in a fight," she said.

"Well you could always stay on as a cook. The pizza you made last night was _awesome_!" he said as he rubbed his stomach and licked his lips. Mermaid giggled.

"Beast Boy," she told him, "anyone can make pizza."

"Not here. The only other person who uses the oven is Starfire." He pretended to gag. "Let's just say the last person who ate her food and liked it, went to the dark side." He said this in a creepy voice while hunched over with his hands out like claws and an evil grin. Mermaid started laughing hysterically.

"Oh," she said, wiping tears from her eyes, and going moody again, "I suppose I should be used to being a weak freak."

"It's not so bad," said Beast Boy, trying to cheer her, "We're all freaks."

"I mean before that." Beast Boy looked confused. "You know how I was sick?"

"About that," he said, "according to Robin's research," he said, pulling out one end of a piece of paper from his pocket, leaving the other end still tucked in there, "Where is it?" he mumbled as he continued to pull the piece of paper out till it was in a long pile in front of him. Finally he got to the other end, "Oh, here it is. He said he couldn't find a case of pneumonia that lasted more then 3 months. So how," he asked as he stepped around the pile of paper in front of him, "did you have it for a year?"

"Well that's what I was going to explain. The pneumonia was more like… a complication. I've been odd since I was born because I had this disorder called cystic fibrosis. My body, it produced too much," she paused, looking for the right word, "mucus."

"Cool!" screamed Beast Boy, "That would be awesome," he said, beginning to list off how it would be awesome and demonstrating, "I bet you could blow huge booger bubbles," he proceeded to blow his own, "or you if someone was bugging you, you could just blow your nose really hard and have them running for cover." Beast Boy tried this but only ended up with boogers down his front. Mermaid giggled.

"That's what a _boy_ would do. A girl just tries to hide her constant runny nose. I took herbal medicines, I dried it out, and I covered it with my sleeve. I was lucky. I only had a mild condition, so it wasn't that bad until last year when I got a cold that turned into pneumonia and my body started producing something like four times what it was supposed to. So the mucus filled my lungs and every time it started to empty…"

"It'd fill back up again. Wow, that must have been horrible. But how did you walk around like when we found you? Robin says…"

"I know, I should have been bedridden, even with the doctors emptying my lungs once ever two weeks. Well after six months of sitting in bed I decided enough was enough and I walked across the room. And I did that every day until I could walk well enough to go out side. Being in bed makes your muscles weak, so it took me a while. Mom didn't like it at first but I told her that I might never get well and I wasn't spending the rest of my life in bed. Even after that she still didn't like it until it turned out that the sunshine was helping me get better. After that it always stayed the same though. I couldn't do anything too energetic because I was so tired all the time, but I didn't have to stay indoors. I wasn't stuck in bed but I couldn't _do_ anything either. So you see," she concluded, "I should be used to being a weak freak."

"But you're not weak," Beast Boy told her, "most people would have stayed in bed and given up, but you got out and walked around even though you couldn't even really breathe." He held her hands. "I know that when you finally get into full battle your gona let lose and every one will see how amazing you are."

"Thanks Beast Boy," she said hugging him. He hugged her back for about half a second and then realized what she was doing. He started squirming.

"What is it with girls and hugging me?" he asked as he tried to squirm lose.

"Sorry." Mermaid apologized and let go.

"It's just that girls keep hugging me! I mean, you don't see them hugging Cyborg!" Mermaid laughed.

"Come on, I'm starving," she told him as she opened the door.

They came into the hangout room where every one else was lounging, and went directly into the kitchen.

"Hey Mermaid," called Cyborg from the couch, where he was playing a video game with Robin, "Ya doin' better?"

"Much. I think I'll make something for lunch for you guys."

"Alright! Hey Beast Boy, after I'm done kicking Bird Brain's butt, you wana go a round?"

"Sure, if you don't mind losing."

"Losing?" Cyborg scoffed, "Fat chance. You can't beat this machine. Boo ya!" he added as he gained more points.

"Hey Beast Boy," Mermaid said as she pulled some fixings from the fridge, "I've been meaning to ask you, after lunch, would you like to go swimming? I haven't had a chance to really check out the beach yet. I wanted to test out my new swimming skills. I figured I should take someone with me, just in case."

"Sure!" he answered, sounding like there was nothing he would rather do, "I can even turn into something aquatic so you won't have to come up for air." Suddenly, every one started blinking. Well technically it wasn't them blinking, it was a belt or gadget, but you get the picture. Robin looked into his communicator at a map of the city.

"Something's happening on 32nd St. Let's go," he told them. Mermaid started wringing her hands.

"Don't worry," Beast Boy said as they started out of the tower, "You'll do fine. Just don't use your mind powers. You're better at Starfire's abilities."

"I suppose," she said as she flew up and Beast Boy turned into a bird. "It's just that I feel bad using someone else's powers. I feel like a copy cat."

"Oh do not worry," Starfire told Mermaid as she flew up behind her, "I don't mind you having my abilities. You are my friend."

"Um, thanks," Mermaid said as she came into land.

The Titians all stared at something ahead of them. "Holy cow…" Cyborg uttered.

There, in the middle of the street, was a dog as tall as one of the skyscrapers. It was tan, with pointy teeth and mean claws. The tops of the buildings around them were torn and for some reason one of them was on fire.

"I believe you meant "holy dog"" Starfire pointed out to Cyborg.

"Yeah that's what I meant…" agreed Cyborg, not really paying attention as he was still starring at the dog.

"I don't think he's so tough, I mean, it's a dog," Beast Boy bragged. The dog took a large breath and proceeded to blow fire. Several of the other buildings caught on fire. "Ok…so it's a fire breathing dog, but it's probably still a wimp, right?" Beast Boy corrected, now sounding less sure of himself.

"That's what you said when we took on the spider," commented Raven.

"Well I say we stop talking and house train the bad puppy," Cyborg pointed out.

"Cyborg is right," stated Robin as he took control, "Titians, go!"

Play music.

_(Reader, at this point I must pause the story. I am trying my best to write these as episodes. Whether they turn out too long or too short is an issue but I am trying my best. On TV or in movies there are times when there is no or little sound coming from the actual characters and it is music which defines the emotions. The next scene is one of those times. Unfortunately it is hard to write that on paper so bare with me. You will see two lines of writing, one right on top of the other. The top is the words to the song that is playing; the bottom describes the action that is happening as you hear those words. Hopefully you can get better emotion this way. If you wish to hear the song it is titled "Eyes Down" and is #14 on the movie "Holes" soundtrack. I am sorry if you don't like the arrangement but it was the best thing I could come up with.)_

_Song: Well the sun is shinin' but it don't feel good, it don't smile down on _

Story: Shot of the sun then it comes down slowly, you see the various

_this neighborhood.When I go walking though this stinking town,_

buildings burning around the dog. Dog takes a step forward.

_Mister I keep my eyes… … … … … down._

Swerve to see Titians face dog. Titians start running towards the dog, flying

_The brotherhood of the misunderstood,_

into action. Split screen with each Titian having a piece as you see them

separately throw their weapons or powers at the beast.

_Live and die here in all likelihood._

Zoom in on Robin as he swings his mettle rod and suddenly his cape is

snagged by a claw, hoisting him upwards.

_You're livin' in this town, better pray for sun down._

Robin is hanging in front of the dog, hanging by a claw. As he struggles the

camera moves to face Robin.

_And baby when you go down town, _

His eyes grow huge and the dog slashes him across the back,

_you keep your eyes down.You keep your eyes down. _

and throws Robin up in the air. Starfire intercepts him and brings him to the ground.

_You keep your eyes down.You keep your eyes down._

She checks him over and he doesn't stir. Cyborg, seeing this and getting

_Fair-Weather friends need not apply,_

very angry, starts punching the beast. A claw comes from behind and sticks

_The man of the house is not inside,_

him through the stomach, lifting him up. Cyborg looks down at his stomach,

then watches in horror as the beast munches down on his blaster.

_Baby I'm keeping my eyes… … … … … … … … … … … …down._

Cyborg looks into the dog's face and as his eyes grow… he is flung to the

_Go with the flow,_

side. He lifts his head, struggling, then he stops moving. Beast Boy sees

_Well you've gotta be sick,_

this and starts running, morphing into a triceratops as he does.

_I think I'd rather hear my heart not tick.But if you don't wanna wear a _

He rams into the huge dog. He turns into a bird to back up and

_hospital gown,Better get out now,_

is snatched between the toes of the beast. He looks into the eyes of the beast,

_or keep your eyes down._

eyes grow wide; he is also flung to the side, and also does not stir. The girls

fly in for the kill, putting all their energy into defeating the foe.

_Fair-Weather friends need not apply; the man of the house is not inside,_

Starfire hurls energy balls at the beast. She flies to the front and sends

_Baby I'm keeping my eyes… … … _

all her energy at the beasts face. She looks up at the face of the dog.

She stares into its face, her eyes grow huge. Mermaid runs in to help.

_Down._

Starfire is swatted with a paw, ramming her into Mermaid, then a building.

Mermaid looks down at her lap at Starfire. She isn't moving either.

_Well the sun is shining, _

Raven sends a spell, surrounding the beast in black,

_But it don't feel good,It don't smile down on this neighborhood._

It breaks through, hurling her back. She gets up and hurls a bus at it.

_When I go walking through this stinking town. Mister I keep my _

She flies forward, staring it defiantly in the face. You see her face as her

_eyes… … … … …down. _

eyes grow huge… she hits the side of a building, having been tossed. She

_I keep my eyes down._

also doesn't move. Mermaid repeatedly attacks the dog, doing no damage.

_I keep my eyes down._

She stands breathless. Looking around, she sees all of her friends, listless on

_Mister, I keep my eyes… … … … … … … … down._

the ground. An angry look comes across her face…She flies up, throwing

her arms out.

As Mermaid threw her arms out a change came over her. She had a glow to her, not like Starfire's, more like an aura of dark purple. Her hands themselves glowed, like neon purple hand paint. "You've hurt my friends. You will never hurt my friends again!" she screamed. She lashed her hands forward, as if throwing something at the beast. The dog was all of a sudden on fire, it wasn't and then it was. The dog remained silent.

"Not enough pain for you?" she screamed, "Well how do you like this?" Spikes shot out of the ground, piercing the dog, making it look like a barbeque. The dog still did not howl. In anger, Mermaid raised her arms, raising the dog up in the air as if controlling it with strings. She threw it into the bay. After she was sure it had drowned, she raised her arms again, pulling it out and throwing it back into the street, lighting it on fire again. Venting her anger, she did this over and over, drowning and burning, drowning and burning.

Mean while, about the second time she had done this, Robin woke up. The first thing he saw was Cyborg, directly across the street from him, struggling to get up. Robin ran over, slightly hunched from the cut on his back.

"Are you ok?" Robin asked, helping Cyborg to his feet.

"I'll live." Cyborg bent over in pain.

"What happened?" Robin asked.

"That thing put a hole through my stomach and destroyed my blaster! It's already healing but I don't think that's an ordinary dog."

"Well duh," commented Beast Boy as he tried to get up a couple feet away, "It's over ten stories tall and breaths fire!"

"I mean besides that," Cyborg argued as he helped him get up, "We didn't even put a dent in it."

"Tell me about it," Beast Boy whined, "I ach all over."

"Cyborg?" Raven drifted over with Starfire, "How is it you're standing up?" she asked, "The thing put a hole through your stomach."

"Self healing technologies. It's a good thing I have them or I would have short circuited."

"But Robin does not," stated Starfire, "and he was also injured."

"Don't worry about me," Robin said, "it's not bad. Where's Mermaid?" he asked, taking notice that she wasn't there.

"She's over there, doing something strange," pointed Starfire. Mermaid was facing the bay, still floating with a purple aura around her, her arms outstretched in front of her.

Beast Boy looked puzzled, "Wha-

At that moment the dog lifted out of the water and was thrown into the street. Mermaid floated, glowing, in front of the dog as it calmly stood back up.

"Why aren't you dead?!" she screamed, "I've lit you on fire and drowned you! Isn't that enough?!"

The Titans stood in awe, Raven most of all. "That is completely uncontrolled power…"

Mermaid, meanwhile, continued her tirade. "What is it?! What is it that you want from me that you haven't died yet, or even shouted in pain?! _Aaaaaaaaarrrrgggg!!!_"

With this final shout, the dog burst into thousands of pieces. Immediately following this Mermaid fainted and slumped to the ground.

"**Mermaid!**" Beast Boy ran to her side followed close behind by the other Titans.

"That," stated Cyborg, "Was the freakiest thing I have ever seen."

"I told her this morning she would show us how awesome she was," said Beast Boy fondly, "and she did, didn't she."

"There was nothing awesome about that," Robin scolded him, "That power was completely uncontrolled. I'm not even sure what ability that _was._"

"I'm not even sure that was an ability," Raven said quietly. The team stared at her.

"Please," plead Starfire, "We should be going to the Tower. We need to be getting Mermaid to the medic ward."

"She probably just used too much energy Star," Robin consoled her, "but your right. Let's head back."

As the Titans turned for home, Cyborg's enhanced hearing picked up a faint rustle. As he turned around, the others heard him gasp. "No way…"

The dog was slowly reforming from the scattered pieces on the ground and slatted on the buildings. "She made the thing explode! Why won't the stupid dog die?!" yelled a frustrated Cyborg.

"Be prepared for anything," cautioned Robin as they prepared for battle.

"And don't look it in the eyes," added Raven, "It has some sort of hypnotism, that's how it took us last time."

"I've set Mermaid on top of the bank one of the blocks down," Starfire told the group as she rejoined them.

"Are you sure she'll be safe there?" Beast Boy asked looking worried.

"She should be fine," Robin told him, "Concentrate on hitting the dog with everything you got."

"Oh, don't worry," Beast Boy, "That Dog is toast."

The dog was reformed. It shook itself to work out all the kinks, and stood to face the group. "Titans, Go!"

Mermaid awoke to the sound of battle with a screaming headache, but she made herself get up. As she looked at the block below her she chastised herself.

"Gwen, you idiot. You lost control and it didn't do one bit of good. Now think, what can you do to help?" She ran through all the abilities she was aware of possessing, but it was hard to think. She was getting dizzy.

"That's it! Robin said you can read minds, so why can't you read the mind of that beast if you try?" Mermaid focused all she could into seeing the inside of that dogs head. For a couple seconds she stood there with a look of concentration on her face. Then she gasped. "No wonder I couldn't burn or drown it!" Using the last of her strength, she flew down to the street.

The Titans weren't doing any better then their last bout with the beast. True, none of them had passed out, but they weren't winning either. Cyborg was in the middle of blasting it again when a pale looking Mermaid landed beside him. "What are you doing up? I thought you were out."

"Cyborg! That dog is a machine! I tapped into its brain, or more, its nervous system."

"Look, I saw that thing blow up and there was nothing mechanical about it. Trust me."

"I know, it's like nothing I've ever seen, but you have to believe me! It's an _organic_ machine! It has an off switch, right behind the left ear…"

"Mermaid!" Robin interrupted, "What are you doing here?! You should be out for days!"

"Robin! I know how to defeat the dog! It's- it's a…" Mermaid passed out again.

"Cyborg, do you know what she was talking about?" asked Robin as he checked her over.

"She thought it was some sort of organic machine, said she read its mind. If it is, it's nothing like I've ever seen before."

"Did she say anything else?"

"Yeah," Cyborg hesitated, "She said it had an off switch behind the left ear, but I don't know. I still don't think it could be a machine."

"Couldn't hurt to try," decided Robin, "Raven!"

"You called?" Raven answered, coming out of the ground next to Cyborg.

"If we distract the dog, do you think you could find something behind its left ear?"

"What exactly would I be looking for?"

"Mermaid woke up and said there's an off switch there," Robin explained, indicating Mermaid lying on the ground.

"Ok, sure. Distract away. I'll get behind it," she said fading back into the ground.

"Star! Beast Boy!" called Robin issuing orders, "Distract tactics! Raven's going after something behind the left ear! Go!"

Raven came up behind on the left, while the rest of the Titans (minus Mermaid) started attacking the right side from the front. Raven easily found what she was looking for; a large, tan switch.

"What do ya know?" she muttered as she flipped it, "There is an off button." As soon as she did this, all motion stopped. She pushed it from the side and the dog fell over, as stiff as a statue.

"Mermaid was right," she told the astonished Titans as she flew over, "It was exactly where she said it would be." Starfire and Beast Boy looked confused.

"What was where?" asked Beast Boy.

"While we were fighting mermaid just flew over and said the dog had an off switch!" Cyborg still couldn't see how his sensors wouldn't pick up on a machine like that.

"Then where is she?!" asked Beast Boy. No one was explaining anything to him.

"She passed out again," explained Robin, "We left her right over here."

"You left her in the middle of the street?!" demanded Beast Boy as he rushed over to make sure she was ok. Starfire calmed him down.

"Beast Boy, our friend is fine. It has been one of the long days. We should be going home. We can only take proper care of her there."

Three days later, Mermaid woke up.

"Mermaid! You're awake!" shouted Beast Boy. "Everyone, Mermaid's awake!"

Mermaid groaned. "Hi, Beast Boy… I'm in an awful mess aren't I?"

"You've been out three days but Robin says you're fine. Here, have some orange juice."

"Thanks," she said, taking the cup and swallowing a little, "Oh, dear." The full memories of what had happened were coming back. "Well, I told you I would be horrible in a fight, and I was, wasn't I? I was useless!" Her eyes were starting to tear up.

"No you weren't," argued Beast Boy. He hadn't seen the tears yet. He was poking his head out the medic room door. "Guys! She's up!" he called down the hallway, "Where is everyone?" As he turned back into the room, he took notice Mermaid's shining eyes.

"Mermaid, what's wrong?"

"I'm useless, that's what's wrong! One stupid dog and I lose control of my powers and pass out and…"

"No you weren't. If you hadn't told us where the off switch was we'd still be fighting that thing. As it was, it took us two minutes after you told us to defeat it."

"But,"

"And as far as I'm concerned, you kept the thing busy while we were out, and that was helpful, even if you did lose control of your powers. I thought it was awesome, the way you took it out. You just have a few tweaks to work out, that's _all_." He took her hand and squeezed it.

"Thanks," she said smiling. He smiled back.

"Mermaid! You are awake!" Star screeched as she peeked through the doorway. Beast Boy quickly dropped Mermaid's hand. Mermaid smiled at him and then at Starfire.

"Yes Star, I'm awake."

"Oh! We must spread the great tidings of good news! Friends!" she called, "Mermaid is awake!" As the rest of the Titans rushed into the room Beat Boy had to ask, "Why do they listen to her?"

After the Titans assured Mermaid that this was to be somewhat expected of a beginner and that training would help, they left her to nap. Afterwards Robin was cornered by Raven.

"Robin," Raven said after finding him in his room, "I need to talk to you."

"Come in. What's up?" asked Robin frowning.

"I've been going through my books, and I believe Mermaid's little episode is more complicated then we thought."

"Raven," Robin sighed, "She lost control of her powers, what's complicated about that?"

"Look, I could _feel_ the power coming off her, and it was nothing close to when Terra, or even when I've lost control. On a hunch I looked up some of the abilities of the old and powerful wizards, and I came up with something."

Robin looked at her skeptically.

"There is this ability, to use your inner being as energy…"

"Like your soul projections."

"No, it's more then that. It's tapping into your life force. It usually emanates in a color of some sort, mine would probably be red. Only the most powerful wizards of all time have been known to be able to do it though, as it requires a lot of energy."

"Energy?" inquired Robin, "So anyone could learn to do it?"

"Technically, yes, but I'm talking about the sort of energy normal people don't have. People who work with magic or even superhuman abilities develop more energy then normal people to do what they do. Even you have more energy than a normal person because you've trained your body to go longer and harder. The thought is, if a person of this nature focuses all this extra energy at once, they can use it to tap into their life force and control their surroundings."

"Let me get this straight," Robin injected, "You think Mermaid can tap into her life force after a couple days of being a superhuman when only really powerful wizards who have trained for years have been able to do it before?"

"I know what I felt. Yes, I think it's possible, but even the most powerful wizards I've studied couldn't hold it for as long as she did. I think," Raven said, looking most serious, "Mermaid is definitely more powerful than we thought."

TBC


End file.
